Sony Masterworks will release Reflect, the debut studio album from Tony, Emmy, Grammy and Pulitzer Prize Award-winning composer Tom Kitt on August 13. Available for preorder now, the album features music from Kitt and lyrics from some of his most talented friends that began at the height of the Broadway shutdown, when so many artists were looking for an outlet for their creativity. Making its debut alongside today’s preorder is the album’s lead single “Breathe,” co-written with and performed by Kitt’s Jagged Little Pill collaborator, Tony Award nominee Elizabeth Stanley – listen here.
Reflect features songs co-written and performed by some of Broadway’s biggest stars, including Adrienne Warren, Mandy Gonzalez, Michael McElroy, Jenn Colella, Danny Burstein, Javier Muňoz, Lauren Patten, Jerry Dixon, Elizabeth Stanley, Heidi Blickenstaff, Brian d’Arcy James and Pearl Sun along with Kitt’s own children Julia and Michael Kitt. An album about finding your voice when you need it most, Reflect is a true collaboration that captures the hope and heartbreak of the tumultuous times we’re living through.
“During the early weeks of the pandemic, I was in a very dark place and found myself creatively paralyzed,” said Kitt. “But given all of the important issues and the calls for social justice, I felt like I needed to find my resilience to create. I wanted to make a song cycle for this moment but felt it needed to be a collaborative effort so that many voices and experiences were represented. I called a few of my friends to ask if they’d be interested in writing with me, and the response was overwhelming.”
Prompted by Kitt, the artists wrote a version of an essay, poem, lyrics, or statement conveying personal emotions and experiences during this time. Tom sat at the piano to transform the language from these personal statements into the music and lyrics, and went on to share the songs with a group of extraordinary orchestrators, with the goal of working with as many members of the theater community as possible. “It was just like a Broadway show,” he said. “I channeled my creativity into something current. I think everyone felt the same thing – a real jolt to feel like we were working together again, even if it was over ZOOM in many cases.”
The album also includes a track called “She Has Hope,” performed by Brian d’Arcy James and written by Moulin Rouge Tony Award nominee Danny Burstein and his wife Rebecca Luker, who passed away from ALS in December 2020.
